Folded manure (Parasola plicatilis)
Systematics:
- Department: Basidiomycota (Basidiomycetes)
- Subdivision: Agaricomycotina (Agaricomycetes)
- Class: Agaricomycetes (Agaricomycetes)
- Subclass: Agaricomycetidae (Agaricomycetes)
- Order: Agaricales (Agaric or Lamellar)
- Family: Psathyrellaceae (Psatirellaceae)
- Genus: Parasola (Parasola)
- Species: Parasola plicatilis (Folded dung)
Synonyms
Coprinus plicatilis
The folded dunghill (lat.Parasola plicatilis) is a mushroom of the Psathyrellaceae family. Inedible due to its too small size.
Hat: In youth it is yellowish, elongated, closed, with age it opens and brightens, thanks to the thin pulp and protruding plates, it resembles a half-open umbrella. A round spot of a darker color remains in the center. As a rule, the hat does not have time to open to the end, remaining half-open. The surface is folded. The diameter of the cap is 1.5-3 cm.
Plates: Rare, adherent to a kind of collar (colarium); in youth they are light grayish, turn black with age. Nevertheless, unlike other representatives of the genus Coprinus, folded dung beetle does not suffer from autolysis and, accordingly, the plates do not turn into 'ink'.
Spore powder: Black.
Stem: 5-10 cm in height, thin (1-2 mm), smooth, whitish, very fragile. The ring is missing. As a rule, somewhere in 10-12 hours after the mushroom emerges on the surface, the leg breaks under the influence of circumstances, and the mushroom ends up on the ground.
Distribution: Folded dung is found everywhere in meadows and along roads from late May to mid-October, but is relatively unobtrusive due to its very short life cycle.
Similar species: There are several more rare representatives of the genus Coprinus, which are almost impossible to distinguish from folded dung beetle for a layman. When young, Coprinus plicatilis can be confused with Bolbitius vitellinus, but after just a couple of hours the error becomes obvious.
Edible: Unknown. Apparently no one checked.
Remarks I can say I was lucky: before my eyes, the birth, dawn and fall of a whole family of folded dung beetles happened. The drama played out on the doorstep of my house, and the denouement had to wait until the evening, until a quiet rain knocked the last representatives of the glorious family into the mud. And then it all ended.
Photo of a fungus Folded dung from the recognition issues:
2018.02.19 
2017.05.14 Valery 
2016.12.08 
2017.07.24
